browski
Established Member
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2004
- Posts
- 1,498
Nothing beats getting a local SIM. That's where the competition is, that's where prices are reasonable.
I think we just listed a host of reasons why something else may be better than a local SIM. If we applied your logic to airlines, then you must only fly a LCC. However, in most many cases, It's not just about the price.
However even if it is just about the price, I'm pretty confident that Local Sims are NOT necessarily the cheapest.
In a telephone transaction there are typically 3 costs; the Sender's cost, the receiver's cost and the connection cost.
Whilst sending calls, the entire cost of a call is often 20-30% better if using a local SIM as opposed to a Passport Service. However when receiving a call the entire cost of the call is actually cheaper when using a Passport Service
Here's a few examples:
If receiving a call in South Africa (on a Sth Africa local SIM) from a mobile in Oz , the total cost of the call is like this:
Optus $79 cap "Yes" plan: AUD $0.74/min + $0.27 flagfall (all to sender)
e-kit passport service: AUD $0.48/min + $0.43 flagfall (all to receiver)
So obviously the entire cost of the call is much cheaper on e-kit. Now you might say, that you do not care about the costs of people that call you, but as most of those calls are from my family (technically, I have to pay those costs anyway) or from my work colleagues, this system really keeps costs down - and on top of that I still have all those other benefits; such as one phone number, one SIM etc.
Here are 2 more examples:
If receiving a call in Dubai, (where I am currently) from a mobile in Oz , the total cost of the call is like this:
Optus $79 cap "Yes" plan: AUD $1.37/min + $0.27 flagfall (all to sender)
e-kit passport service: AUD $0.59/min + $0.43 flagfall (all to receiver)
If receiving a call in Paris from a mobile in Oz , the total cost of the call is like this:
Optus $79 cap "Yes" plan: AUD $0.52/min + $0.27 flagfall (all to sender)
e-kit passport service: AUD $0.48/min + $0.43 flagfall (all to receiver)
Now I may have my sums wrong, this is just my first experiment, but I think I have it right. Like I wrote earlier, this service is not for everyone, but for the multi-destination (business?) traveller, I don't think you can beat it.
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